Original articleScapular Positioning in Patients With Shoulder Pain: A Study Examining the Reliability and Clinical Importance of 3 Clinical Tests
Section snippets
Subject Recruitment and Research Design
A convenience sample of 29 patients with a variety of shoulder disorders, diagnosed by a physician, was recruited from 10 private practices for physical therapy (PT) and 4 hospital outpatient PT divisions. To be included in the trial, subjects had to be diagnosed as having a shoulder disorder by a physician, be referred by a physician for PT, and have shoulder pain at the time of the study. In addition, patients receiving PT for shoulder pain related to a recent surgical intervention were
Results
Twenty-nine patients with shoulder pain were recruited; 19 subjects were women (65.5%), and in 18 patients (62.1%) the right shoulder was affected. The mean age of the study sample was 56.6±14.9 years (range, .18±81y), and the mean shoulder pain duration was 13.7±27.1 months. The mean SDQ total scores ranged between 13% and 100% disability (mean total score ± SD, 58.3%±20.1%), and the mean VAS pain score was 11.3±16.3mm (range, 4±62mm). The descriptive statistics of the outcome of the first
Discussion
The interobserver reliability of the measurement of the distance from the medial scapular border to the fourth thoracic spinous processes with the shoulder relaxed was poor. However, it was shown that the interobserver reliability of the measurement of the distance between the posterior border of the acromion and the table at rest and during active shoulder retraction, the LSST, and the measurement of the distance from the medial scapular border to the fourth thoracic spinous processes with
Conclusions
These data provide evidence favoring the interobserver reliability of 2 of 3 clinical tests for the assessment of scapular positioning in patients with shoulder pain. The internal consistency of the tests’ outcomes was high for both assessors, suggesting that the 3 tests assess the same underlying construct and dimension. The clinical importance of the tests’ outcomes, however, is questionable. Further work is required to provide clinicians with simple, reliable, and valid assessment techniques
Acknowledgments
We thank Steven Truyen, PhD, for his advice on the statistical analysis. We are grateful to Katrien Vanherberghen for editing the manuscript. Special thanks to all the physical therapists for kindly cooperating.
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Supported by the Hogeschool Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium.
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